Family representation in Brick lane

The family represented in Brick lane is portrayed initially as a conventional nuclear family, with a married wife and husband with two children. It is then shown to be a more or less imperfect, when the children begin to drift from their heritage, and their mother starts an affair because of her neglecting and proud husband , that constantly ignores her opinion and the individual identities of the children. The youngest daughter rarely speaks, but could be seen to represent the quiet and innocent stereotype of a ‘duckling’ child, that merely goes through the motions of what everyone else is doing, making her much more of a peripheral character, although she is an immediate family member the main cast and protagonist. On the other hand her older sister seems to embody the rebellious teen demographic, that branches out in search of identity, while constantly questions the authority of her parents and rattling the barriers of the rules that have been enforced into her life, away from the culture they are to enforce. We often see the mother as the classic step-ford wife lacking direction and will, only to end-up having an affair and growing out of her long suffering childhood

The father may be an irritating and intolerable person but he never truly seems evil, and most of his seemingly selfish actions appear to prompt the actions of other characters and propel the storyline, for example, he is always promotes his own ideas and objectives but his expressions seem to employ a sort of reverse psychology, and when he loses his job and constantly recites the fact that the man must support the family, seems only to strengthen the resolve of his wife to get a job herself, making him seem, to me at least, to be some social strategist who manipulates those around him, and in doing so enriches their lives and makes them happier.

So overall, they appear to be represented as a classical family with it problems, and redeeming heartfelt qualities, tied in with watered down religious ideologies and traditions, that fade as the film progresses. I believe that this is down to the influence of opposing culture, and although native white English Christian families aren’t presented  in any depth or acknowledgement. I feel that this is purely down to the writers own impartial objective towards the definitive features of a family structure, within her book and film.

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